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Edgewater mayor denies accusation of assault with campaign sign
"This did not occur. She moved toward me." That's the response from Edgewater Mayor Diezel Depew, who's accused of hitting a woman with a campaign sign. Though police responded to the incident, as of Aug. 10, no charges have been filed and no injuries have been reported.
EDGEWATER, Fla. - Edgewater Mayor Diezel DePew is facing a battery complaint after a confrontation at an early voting site, where a woman accused him of hitting her with a political campaign sign.
As of Aug. 10, no charges have been filed and no injuries were reported.
What we know:
According to New Smyrna Beach police, officers were called to the New Smyrna Beach Public Library on Friday after a dispute involving DePew, who was campaigning at the time.
DePew was moving a large campaign sign when the woman claims he hit her on the tip of her nose and her chest, according to the incident report.
The alleged victim submitted a report for battery, though no charges have been filed, and DePew was not arrested. The alleged victim did not report any injuries.
DePew disputes her account. Police reviewed cellphone video of the incident but said they couldn’t tell if the sign made contact with the woman, due to the angle and quality of the recording.
The complaint has been forwarded to the State Attorney’s Office for review.
What they're saying:
DePew said the confrontation began when two people approached him, upset with his presence at the polls. He said he was moving the sign to a different location and denied striking the woman with it.
"One of the individuals involved moved herself over to where I was putting the sign, and then said it grazed her... This did not occur. There’s multiple witnesses. She moved towards me," DePew said.
DePew called the allegation an attack on his character.
"I’ve never been accused of being aggressive in my life. This is just a baseless character attack," he said.
What's next:
No criminal charges have been filed against DePew at this time.
New Smyrna Beach police submitted the affidavit to the State Attorney’s Office, which will determine whether to pursue charges.
FOX 35 News reached out to the alleged victim, but has not heard back.
The Source: Information in this story was gathered from the New Smyrna Beach Police Department and reporting from FOX 35's Chris Lindsay.